Reading Promoters' Training: New Service of Public Library - A Case Study of Pudong Library of China

In order to make reading promotion more professional and qualified, some libraries and associations in China are training reading promoters. The Pudong Library of Shanghai is a typical case. This article summarizes the theory and the practice of reading promoter training, and discusses the operation offered by Pudong Library. It also concludes the achievements, innovations and the characteristics of the training, and further provides the developmental directions of the training. This article aims to introduce a new service that was undertook by the Pudong Library, and considers how to make this practice more effective and well-developed

An Analysis of a Wind Turbine-Generator System in the Presence of Stochasticity and Fokker-Planck Equations

In power systems dynamics and control literature, theoretical and practical aspects of the wind turbine-generator system have received considerable attentions. The evolution equation of the induction machine encompasses a system of three first-order differential equations coupled with two algebraic equations. After accounting for stochasticity in the wind speed, the wind turbine-generator system becomes a stochastic system. That is described by the standard and formal Itô stochastic differential equation. Note that the Itô process is a strong Markov process. The Itô stochasticity of the wind speed is attributed to the Markov modeling of atmospheric turbulence. The article utilizes the Fokker-Planck method, a mathematical stochastic method, to analyse the noise-influenced wind turbine-generator system by doing the following: (i) the authors develop the Fokker-Planck model for the stochastic power system problem considered here; (ii) the Fokker-Planck operator coupled with the Kolmogorov backward operator are exploited to accomplish the noise analysis from the estimation-theoretic viewpoint

Harmonization and Categorization of Metrics and Criteria for Evaluation of Recommender Systems in Healthcare From Dual Perspectives

Researchers' choice of metrics and criteria in evaluating recommender systems depends on what the researcher feels is popular among other researchers, or sometimes based on the objective of the research. There is no harmonized set of criteria and metrics that can be referenced when evaluating recommender systems in healthcare. In this article, a set of metrics and criteria are harmonized and categorized as a guide for evaluating recommender systems. By means of an online survey, the opinions of forty-four experienced researchers and other stakeholders from eight countries and four continents were sought on the relevance of identified metrics and criteria. Analysis of the results show speed and timeliness are at the top. Topping the list of criteria is the provision of information that will guide users to useful decisions. The result is presented from two logical perspectives. Four categories are then identified as a useful guide for evaluating recommender systems

The Effect of Customer Value on User Satisfaction With Dialogue Characteristics of Apple's Intelligent Agent Siri

Intelligent agent products with dialogue characteristics are rapidly becoming common household and personal gadgets. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of dialogue characteristics on user satisfaction with intelligent agent products. The authors predicted that factors leading to this effect would differ from products without such interactive features. To date, dialogue characteristics have primarily been studied in robots with human-like gestures and appearance, but few studies have addressed dialogue characteristics in intelligent agent products designed for home or mobile usage. To address this gap, the authors conducted surveys about Apple Siri, a representative commercial intelligent agent. The results indicate that dialogue support had the most positive impact on user satisfaction, followed by playfulness and social presence. These findings suggest new directions in intelligent agent research and design that could increase user satisfaction

The Role of Strategy Implementation in the Relationship Between Strategic Planning Systems and Performance

While substantial research has been done on strategic planning and performance, there is little research on the moderating role of strategy implementation. This study attempts to bridge this gap. The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional survey with the firm as the unit of analysis. The findings indicate that strategy implementation moderates the relationship between strategic planning systems and market performance as well as internal business process performance but not on return on investment performance. In conclusion, the configuration of planning systems with its theoretical underpinning as resource bundles explain performance variations among firms. The study's implication for practice is that strategic planning systems should be emphasized by business firms as a configuration and not by its domains

Ethics of Retailers and Consumer Behavior in E-Commerce: Context of Developing Country With Roles of Trust and Commitment

In the era of the information-communication technology with the development of electronic commerce, consumers can buy almost everything anywhere and at any time. One of the greatest benefits of e-commerce has been the convenience and the vast choices which consumers get online. However, some serious issues exist that impede consumers from transaction online. These issues have attracted the attention of many marketing researchers in recent years. In this research, the authors focus on the impact of consumers' ethics perception of e-retailer on their purchase intention and satisfaction. The authors also try to clarify the roles of trust and commitment in the relationship of ethics on consumers purchase decision and satisfaction because of their importance in e-commerce but also the privation in the research of previous studies. The data collected from a survey of 390 online consumers in Vietnam. Results reveal that there are significant relationships between online retailers' ethics and consumers' purchase intention and satisfaction via the mediation of trust and commitment

Human Factors Affecting HMS Impact on Nurses Jobs: HMS Impact in Nursing

To improve and facilitate patient care, hospital administrators have implemented healthcare management systems (HMS). Unfortunately, many hospitals have encountered HMS implementation problems. Some user-related factors have been proposed in the literature as important to system success. This study proposes an integrative model and empirically tests the importance of these variables as determinants of HMS impact on the jobs of nurses. Data from 213 nurses using their hospital HMS has been used to test the relationships between the independent variables and the HMS impact on the nurses' jobs. The results confirm the importance of nurse participation, training, good communication with developers, and lack of conflict regarding system implementation enabling a more desirable effect of HMS on nurses' jobs. Based on the results, recommendations are made for hospital administrators to improve the likelihood of HMS implementation success

Indigena Solutions, Tensions in an Aboriginal IT Impact Sourcing Firm

This paper explores the role of cultural tensions in the operations of an Information Technology Impact Sourcing (ITIS) venture called Indigena Solutions. The company was based in Vancouver Canada and was intended to provide meaningful careers to a marginalized group, namely Canadian Indigenous Peoples. The company provided on-shore IT services such as help-desk support and software testing. With the support of Accenture and with initial success at high profile clients such as BC Hydro and Vancouver City Trust, the company lasted about seven years. Indigena was declared bankrupt in 2017. This research demonstrates the cultural tensions inherent in creating an Impact Sourcing venture, with challenges of location, the inability to attract Indigenous workers to a non-traditional career, and the underlying challenge of structural racism, despite the recognized social responsibility and commitment to help a marginalized group. The research was designed as a case study using an interpretive approach. The originality of this research rests on the exploration of why Impact Sourcing in a developed country failed to meet the needs of the marginalized Indigenous Peoples community. This research contributes to the body of work that explains tensions inherent in ITIS. Practitioners may find this research valuable as they consider the challenges of establishing and successfully operating an ITIS firm

Determinants and Consequences of Citizens' E-Participation: The Case Study of the App MyHomeCity

This article aims to discuss the determinants of digital active citizenship behaviors such as the e-participation using reporting urban apps. The article makes a comparative analysis between two groups of citizens: a) 98 users of a reporting app (MyHomeCity) who were selected for the case study); and b) 148 non-users of reporting apps. Users of MyHomeCity revealed higher scores for the satisfaction for life in the city, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and perceived happiness, for all place attachment dimensions and all digital citizenship dimensions except for political activism (online and offline) and critical perspective. The probability of being an app user is predicted by satisfaction for living in the city, place identity (attachment), and digital citizenship dimensions. The implications for public decision makers, app developers, and citizens' organizations are discussed

Effect of User Involvement in Supply Chain Cloud Innovation: A Game Theoretical Model and Analysis

Cloud innovation has become increasingly important to supply chain innovation and performance. User involvement is a crucial part of cloud innovation. However, the effect of user involvement in supply chain cloud innovation has not been thoroughly studied, particularly its effect on product cost and optimal price. In this paper, the authors attempted to bridge this major gap in the literature. The authors reviewed the relevant literature to define cloud innovation and user involvement in supply chain cloud innovation. Then the authors developed a game model based on the Bertrand model. Analysis of the model showed that user involvement affects product cost and optimal pricing in an interesting way. The authors also presented a real-life example of how user innovation takes place at Tailg electric vehicle company